VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to identify vacancies in government hospitals and complete the recruitment process within 90 days as a measure to gear up for the possible third wave of Covid-19.
Reviewing the Covid situation in the State on Thursday, Jagan said every vacant post in the government hospitals should be filled and no one should work on deputation. The attendance of staff in the government hospitals should be monitored on a regular basis by verifying the biometric system, he said.
“There should be no compromise in providing medical services to people. The government-run health sector should extend quality medical services. Drugs stocked in the hospitals should meet WHO and GMP standards,” he asserted.In view of the ensuing festival season, the government extended the night curfew (11 pm to 6 am) as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of Covid in the State.
The health officials said Vinayaka Chavithi celebrations should be confined to houses rather than allowing pandals at public places. The idol immersion processions should also be avoided, they said. Jagan directed them to ensure strict adherence to guidelines issued by the Centre pertaining to festival celebrations.
The officials informed him that the number of active cases in the State declined to 14,473 from over two lakh in May. The test positivity rate is 2.11% and the recovery rate is 98.58%. The positivity rate is less than 3% in 10 districts of the State. There are zero Covid cases in the purview of 10,000 village secretariats, they said.
As many as 20,964 oxygen concentrators and 27,311 D-type oxygen cylinders are made available in the State keeping in view the possible third wave of Covid.Installation of oxygen plants and other equipment in 95 government hospitals will be completed by the end of September, they said. Jagan instructed them to ensure strict adherence to Covid protocol in schools to ensure the safety of students.
On Covid vaccination, the officials told Jagan that 3,02,52,905 doses of vaccine has been received by the State and 2,18,04,564 people have got Covid jabs. Of the total vaccinated people, 1,33,56,223 have got a single dose, while 84,48,341 have been administered two doses.
They exuded confidence that all those above 18 years of age in the State will be administered a single dose of Covid vaccine by the end of November and vaccination of all people will be completed by February, 2022. Jagan directed the officials to focus on booster dose and come up with an action plan in this regard after completing the administration of two doses to all the people in the State.